Trust Pages Accessible

TL;DR

Your page may be missing trust signals that help both humans and LLMs evaluate credibility. Add clear attribution, dates, sources, and transparency around claims where appropriate. Use Oversearch AI Page Optimizer to rescan and confirm the trust benchmarks improve.

Why this matters

LLMs increasingly weigh evidence and trust signals. Transparent sourcing and attribution reduce misquotes and improve confidence.

Where this shows up in Oversearch

In Oversearch, open AI Page Optimizer and run a scan for the affected page. Then open Benchmark Breakdown to see evidence, and use the View guide link to jump back here when needed.

Do I need Privacy Policy and Terms pages for SEO?

Yes. Trust pages (Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, Contact, About) are expected by search quality raters and contribute to site trustworthiness.

Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines look for easily accessible trust pages. Sites without them score lower on trust assessments, which can indirectly affect rankings.

• Privacy Policy: required by law in most jurisdictions and expected by quality raters.
• Terms of Service: signals a legitimate, established business.
• Contact page: shows the site is operated by reachable people.
• About page: establishes who you are and why you are authoritative.

If you use Oversearch, open AI Page Optimizer → Benchmark Breakdown to check trust page accessibility.

Where should Contact/About pages be linked?

Link trust pages from the site footer on every page, and ideally also from the main navigation or header.

Trust pages should be accessible from any page on the site with one click. The footer is the standard location, but navigation links increase visibility.

• Footer: link Privacy Policy, Terms, Contact, About from every page.
• Navigation: include About and Contact in the main menu.
• Ensure the links work and pages return 200 OK.
• Do not hide trust pages behind login or complex navigation.

If you use Oversearch, open AI Page Optimizer → Benchmark Breakdown to verify.

Do trust pages affect conversions or citations?

Yes. Trust pages increase conversion rates by reducing buyer anxiety. They also improve citation likelihood because AI systems check for trust signals.

Pages with visible trust signals (contact info, privacy policy, about page) are perceived as more reliable by both humans and AI systems.

• Contact page reduces purchase anxiety.
• About page establishes expertise and authority.
• Privacy Policy shows data handling transparency.
• AI systems may check for trust pages when assessing source reliability.

If you use Oversearch, open AI Page Optimizer → Benchmark Breakdown to check.

How can I verify the fix after I change the page?

Check that trust pages (Privacy, Terms, Contact, About) are linked from the footer, load correctly, and contain real content.

• Visit the homepage and click each trust page link in the footer.
• Confirm each returns 200 OK and contains real, not placeholder, content.
• Check that the About page describes the organization and its expertise.

If you use Oversearch, open AI Page Optimizer → Benchmark Breakdown to confirm the benchmark passes.

Common root causes

• No author/organization attribution or credentials.
• No sources for claims, or sources are low-quality/unclear.
• Missing publication/updated dates.
• No clear separation of opinion vs fact.

How to detect

• In Oversearch AI Page Optimizer, open the scan for this URL and review the Benchmark Breakdown evidence.
• Verify the signal outside Oversearch with at least one method: fetch the HTML with curl -L, check response headers, or use a crawler/URL inspection.
• Confirm you’re testing the exact canonical URL (final URL after redirects), not a variant.

How to fix

Understand which trust pages are needed (see: Do I need Privacy Policy and Terms pages for SEO?) and where to link them (see: Where should Contact/About pages be linked?). Then follow the steps below.

1. Add clear author or organizational attribution and link to an author profile/about page.
2. Show publication date and last updated date.
3. Link key claims to credible sources and provide data where possible.
4. Add a short methodology or ‘how we evaluate’ note when benchmarks are referenced.
5. Run an Oversearch AI Page Optimizer scan to confirm trust signals improve.

Verify the fix

• Run an Oversearch AI Page Optimizer scan for the same URL and confirm the benchmark is now passing.
• Confirm the page is 200 OK and the primary content is present in initial HTML.
• Validate with an external tool (crawler, URL inspection, Lighthouse) to avoid false positives.

Prevention

• Add author + update metadata to every guide template by default.
• Create a sourcing standard: what needs a citation and what doesn’t.
• Separate opinion from fact consistently (labels, wording).

FAQ

Are trust pages a ranking factor?

Not directly, but they are part of how search quality raters evaluate sites. Sites without trust pages score lower on trust assessments, which can indirectly affect rankings. When in doubt, add all standard trust pages — they cost little and benefit a lot.

What should an About page include?

Company history, team information, mission/values, contact information, and credentials relevant to your content topics. Show why your organization is qualified to publish this content. When in doubt, answer the question ‘Why should I trust what this site says?‘

Do I need separate Contact and About pages?

Yes. The About page explains who you are. The Contact page explains how to reach you. Combining them is acceptable for small sites but separate pages are preferred. When in doubt, create separate pages — search quality raters expect them.

Can AI systems detect missing trust pages?

AI systems may check for standard trust indicators when assessing source reliability. Missing trust pages reduce the likelihood of being selected as a citation source. When in doubt, ensure all standard trust pages exist and are linked from every page.

Should trust pages be indexed?

Yes. Trust pages should be indexable. They can appear in search results for brand queries and help establish your site’s identity in search engines’ understanding. When in doubt, do not noindex trust pages.

How can I verify the trust pages fix?

Click each trust page link in the footer, confirm they return 200 OK, and verify they contain real content (not placeholder text). When in doubt, run an Oversearch AI Page Optimizer scan.